A Wolf Among Ponies

It was a beautiful Thursday in Ponyville, fairly sunny with clear skies.

It being midday, many of Ponyville’s residents were out and about, living life per usual, the adults doing important things like working or running errands, and the kids, out for more recreational activities with their friends, but all going about their lives with that warm and friendly atmosphere that made Ponyville one of the talks of Equestria.

Well that, and the fact that one of the four Alicorn Princesses, Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, resided there.

Twilight was currently in the map room of her massive castle made of crystal, which doubled as her house, contemplating recent events. She was wearing her royal attire, a pink dress with gold accents and golden, metal boots.

“The wolves have been attacking more and more as the days pass,” stated Twilight.

She was waiting for the her friends to arrive having sent a message to Fluttershy and Rarity, as they were the closest and we're easiest to teleport the letter to, asking them to gather the rest of her friends. She was really not looking forward to telling her friends what happened.

She looked upon the holographic map. On it, all the cities, towns and capitals of Equestria were visible, as well as small red dots, known enemy camps, and small blue dots, Equestrian war camps, at various places.

Twilight looked outside at the sun and couldn't help but think of her former mentor, the Princess of the Sun, Princess Celestia.

“It's been awhile, hasn't it?” contemplated Twilight. Ever since the wolves had started their attacks, Celestia was always too busy with military matters or meetings with Equestria’s allies to visit or talk with Twilight.

She had given up trying to contact her via letter. Every letter she'd sent was returned with an apologetic letter from Celestia’s younger sister, the Princess of the Moon, Princess Luna, stating that Celestia was too busy to respond.

It was ok though, Twilight herself was too busy to send any letters. She had been frantically researching tactics and learning the wolves strategies. Up until last night she hasn't slept for three days, now feeling refreshed and awake.

Due to the eminent threat of the wolves to Ponyville, Celestia as well as the Princess of Love, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence, as she preferred to be called, had sent some of their best soldiers to form a guard in Ponyville.

Twilight lied her face on the crystal table that was projecting the map and rubbed her temples with her fingers. ‘Why does war have to be so frickin’ stressful?’ Twilight thought.

Right after she thought that, she heard the huge doors to the map room open and quickly composed herself.

The Element of Kindness, Fluttershy, dressed in her green, short-sleeved shirt, pink skirt, and brown sandals, followed by the Element of Generosity, Rarity, wearing a blue and black dress, and a pair of black mid heel shoes, entered the room.

“Hey Rarity. Hey Fluttershy,” greeted Twilight.

“Hello darling. How do you like my new dress?” Rarity asked.

“It looks great, where are the others at?” responded Twilight.

Fluttershy walked up next to Rarity. “Well, AJ was apple bucking when we told her you wanted her, Pinkie’s throwing a party, and Starlight was helping Dash set up for stunt she's planning on performing at the next show. They all said they would meet us here as soon as they could,” said Fluttershy.

“You know, daring, you simply must come with Fluttershy and I to the spa this next Saturday. They have a new massage treatment that I hear is to die for,” said Rarity.

“You know what? That's sounds like a fantastic idea. As far as I know I have Saturday off,” said Twilight

Rarity and Fluttershy both smiled and went and took their seats. “Wonderful! So, Twilight,” started Rarity, “what's the matter, why have you called us to a meeting?”

“I’d rather wait until the rest of the girls get here to discuss that,” said Twilight.

“Uh, Twilight, where’s Spike? Isn’t he usually at these meetings too?” asked Fluttershy in confusion.

“Yeah where’s my little Spikey-Wikey?” asked Rarity.

Twilight’s expression darkened. “That's part of why I've called upon this meeting.“

Rarity had a bad feeling about that. ‘The way Twilight said that… it's as if something bad happened. I hope darling Spike is OK.’

The there was a moment of silence, then a knock at the door.

“Come in,” said Twilight. Twilight's student, Starlight Glimmer, the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash, and the Element of Honesty, Applejack entered the room.

Starlight was in a purple unbuttoned half shirt over a sky blue t-shirt, black jeans, and black skate shoes, Rainbow Dash in her white tank top, black Nike sweatpants, and a pair of blue sneakers, and Applejack was wearing her cowboy hat, a buttoned up, red plaid shirt, blue Daisy Dukes, and a pair of brown leather boots.

They all took their seats. “Uh, guys,” Twilight looked at her friends quizzically, “where's Pinkie?”

Applejack looked at Twilight, puzzled, “We thought she was already here. We went Sugar Cube Corner to go Pinkie, but when we got there, the party was over.”

“We asked the Cakes where Pinkie was and they said that Pinkie was already on her way here,” said Rainbow Dash.

Suddenly, there was a sound of an explosion in the room, startling the mares, then a voice squealed, “Happy Anniversary, guys! “

“Pinkie Pie! You scared us all half to death!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

With a sheepish smile Pinkie said, “Oops, sorry. I just wanted to celebrate this wonderful occasion.”

Pinkie was dressed in a lively yellow t-shirt, a sky blue skirt that went passed her knee, and rosey red slip-on shoes.

“Uh, darling, what exactly might the occasion be?” asked Rarity

Pinkie grinned, “It's our three hundredth meeting together since Starlight became Twilight's student, silly. How could you forget?”

“Uh, Pinkie, as honored as I am you kept track, even I didn't know that. Sorry,” said Starlight.

Pinkie smiled, “That's alright. We just have to plan ahead for meeting number 400!”

Twilight's rolled her eyes. She looked around the room. “Uh, Fluttershy? Where did Fluttershy go?”

“Up here,” said Fluttershy in a voice just above a whisper, who was hiding in the tree chandelier. She fluttered down back to her seat and gave an embarrassed smile with flushed cheeks.

“Alright,” said Twilight, “let's get on with the meeting. As you all know about three years ago, Princess Ember became Dragon Lord. Well, she has become of the age where she must find a mate.”

“What does this have to do with Spike, Twilight?” asked Rarity.

The Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Starlight, and Pinkie all realized the purple dragon was nowhere to be seen.

“Wait. Isn't Spike usually here with us for meetings?” asked Rainbow.

Twilight looked sadly down at the map. “Lord Ember has chosen Spike her mate and… he accepted. “

Everyone gasped. “WHAT?! B-but… my Spikey-Wikey can't leave!” said Rarity in a raised voice.

Rainbow Dash yelled, “Spike is moving to Dragonland?! B-but he can't leave! He's our friend!”

“I know girls, but, he isn't a small dragon anymore. He can make his own decisions. Plus, I think Ember needs emotional support, with the war and what not,” said Twilight with a sad look.

“Are you sure you're OK with this, sugarcube? I mean, how will ya get letters from Celestia?” asked Applejack.

“She’s too busy to talk anyway. I don't know when the next time I'll see her will- ” Twilight was cut off by a grey mare with blond hair crashing through one of windows in the room.

“Derpy! What the hell?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“One second I was flying, the next I crashed. I just don't know what went wrong. Anyways, I have a message for Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Derpy pulled out a white envelope and handed it to Twilight.

“Derpy, you don't have to call me Princess, we’re friends,” said Twilight.

She took the message from Derpy’s hands. “So, whose this from, Derpy?”

“Oh yeah,” Derpy pulled out her clipboard, “ this was sent by Princess Celestia from Canterlot Castle.”

Twilight looked at the letter in shock. ‘But she hasn't sent me anything for months!’

“I'll be on my way then. Sorry about the window,” shouted Derpy as she flew out the hole in the castle that use to be a window.

Twilight turned over the envelope. Sure enough on the back was the Royal golden seal.

Twilight hurriedly tore open the envelope and read the letter aloud, “It says, ‘My Dear Twilight, I am sending this letter to address a few things. First, I'm sorry I haven't been contacting you, I've been busy with the war going on and have hardly had a minute to myself. Next, I heard about Spike leaving. I know it must have been hard for you to let him go, but I'm proud of you for letting him go.”

Twilight couldn't help but smile at that last part. She continued, “And finally, I want to announce that Luna, Cadence, Flurry, your brother and I are coming to Ponyville l.”

They all gasped. “Why are they coming? Oh no, I have to plan a party!” Pinkie said before trying to dart out the door, only to be stopped by Applejack holding her tail.

“What a second, Pinkie! Twilight, does it say why they're comin’? asked Applejack.

“They wouldn't come on such short notice unless something important was happening,” said Fluttershy, who had just come out from under the table, having been startled by the shattering of the window.

Twilight continued to read the letter to herself. “She says they will be here today,” she said with a smile.

But as she continued, that smile quickly faded and was replaced with a look of terror as she found the reason of their rush to get to Ponyville.

“She says an army of one hundred wolves is coming to destroy Ponyville!”